How To Know When You're In Love
by imsuchanut
Summary: "Rose was craving chocolate, so she decided they were going to make cupcakes. Yes, the Doctor was going to bake. He never could refuse her anything, after all." Just a little bit of fluff.


**A/N: Ah! Thank you guys so much for reading. I know I'm supposed to be updating my other stories, but I got sidetracked. I promise, I will get to them soon, though!**

The Doctor was faced with a situation. Upon waking, after an odd dream of him and his companion, he realized he had feelings for Rose. Strong feelings. Like, more than a companion-type feelings, more than a best friend, not just an attraction, and definitely not family-type feelings. This led to a question: how _did_ he feel about Rose?

When one is faced with a puzzling question, one looks for answers. The Doctor decided the best place to find these answers was in the library. There, he found a very, very old issue of a magazine called "Cosmo For Men". It seemed to have the solution, and so the Doctor read it. He found an article called "How to Know When You're In Love". It contained five steps:

_You'll follow her willingly_

_You will embarrass yourself for the sake of making her happy_

_Personal space? What's that?_

_Daydreams about you and her are a part of daily life._

_You just know._

That seemed pretty helpful. However, he heard footsteps approaching so he memorized the article and hid the issue in the nearest book.

Rose entered seconds after. She looked down at the book he was holding and giggled. "Really, Doctor? Twilight? Didn't peg you as that kind of guy."

He looked down at the book and groaned. Just his luck. "I wasn't…I mean I…there's no way I can convince you that I wasn't actually reading this, is there?" Rose just smiled.

"Nope, not at all. Now come with me." And like a dog, he obeyed.

Rose was craving chocolate, so she decided they were going to make cupcakes. Yes, the Doctor was going to bake. He never could refuse her anything, after all. The fact that she was at her time of the month and therefore scary had nothing to do with him obediently following her into the kitchen. Nor the fact that he was utterly whipped. Or infatuated with her. No, the Doctor just felt like baking. _Yes, let's just go with that_, he thought. _That'll keep the remains of my Time Lord dignity intact. _In hindsight, this was the first sign.

The second came minutes after. The Doctor washed his hands and rolled up his sleeves, and then he noticed Rose. She was walking towards him with a cheeky smile on her face and something hidden behind her back. He gulped. "Doctor," she started, in the voice that always made him give her whatever she wanted. Usually shopping trips. It was almost as if she did it on purpose, but she couldn't know what made him fall to his knees, right? "Could you please close your eyes for a moment?" _Well, that depends. Are you going to kiss me, Rose? Oh, of course you're not. _

"Yeah…um sure, of course I _can_, but it's a matter of whether I _will_ or not, and before I decide that I'd-" Rose cut him off.

"Oh, just do it! Stop stalling." And so, being as whipped as he was, he did as she commanded.

Though, this regeneration _was_ a bit cheeky. "Yes master!" He felt her arms moving around his waist, and suddenly a flood of thoughts rushed through his brain. He almost let out a noise at the sensation, but it stopped as suddenly as it started.

"Ta da!" He looked down, and it was like a bucket of cold water had been poured over him. It worked the same way, as it stopped all of his thoughts.

"A pink apron? You _actually_ expect me to wear this? I thought we determined this in my last regeneration, _I am a man_." Oh dear Rassilon, was this what the friend zone felt like? Or even worse: did she think he was _gay_? Did all of his flirting mean nothing to her?

"Please, Doctor? For me?" Oh bloody bananas. She was batting her eyelashes. _No. You will not give in. You are a man. A manly man with manly, hairy hands. You will persevere!_

"Fine, I'll keep it." They got out the ingredients and started measuring. Well, I say _they_, but it was really Rose just reading out what they needed and the Doctor fetching it. Whipped, remember?

The stuff of legends quickly discovered that they were better at saving the universe than baking. There were several disastrous tries to get the TARDIS blue mixer to work ("Oh, I forgot! This was the one I tried to make sonic!" "Really Doctor? You couldn't have remembered that _before_ it spazzed out and got batter everywhere?"), so the couple had to relocate to the red one. They then spent a good fifteen minutes looking for cupcake liners ("I'm a Time Lord, Rose. I don't normally need cupcake liners."), but the only pack available had bananas printed all over them, which made Rose laugh. The Doctor said a silent prayer, glad she wasn't going to kill him for not having cupcake liners (there had been several moments during the search when he thought she actually might; she really wanted those cupcakes). Rose finally managed to get the tray into the oven. Exhausted, she slid down the wall opposite the oven after she set the timer, and the Doctor sat down next to her. "Well, that was quite an adventure."

"Oh, shut up, you." She answered, but her playful nudge and small smile let him know she wasn't really mad. He noticed their predicament when she didn't move back to her original position. Both had their legs drawn up, and the entire right side of his body was touching the left of hers. They were squished together in a huge and empty kitchen. The Doctor certainly didn't mind, though. Could this be step three?

Because they were so close, the cupcake batter streaks covering Rose's face seemed much more prominent. "You've got a little…all over your face."

Rose's brow furrowed in confusion. "What're you talking about?"

"Oh, just let me get it." So the Doctor reached his thumb over to her face and gently wiped off the frosting. Of course, he couldn't stop there. _Where's my self-control today_? He let his hand rest for a few moments on her face, gently cupping her cheek. Rose gave him a questioning look, but she didn't seem to mind. Not willing to make things worse, he quickly removed his hand and looked for a napkin to wipe the batter on. He saw some, and without thinking, he reached to get them.

They were on the other side of Rose.

The Doctor underestimated the distance and lost his balance. Not his best move. Well, it depends on how you look at it. He ended up sprawled over Rose, which was quite pleasant in itself. _I wouldn't mind being this way in other positions. Stop it, don't think like that!_ On the other hand, Rose might not be too happy about this. So he jumped up, grabbed the napkins, and wiped his hand. "So, shall we start the frosting then?" Yeah, definitely step three.

The only working mixer was dirty, and both Rose and the Doctor were too lazy to wash it just yet. Therefore, they had to mix the frosting by hand. The Doctor agreed to put everything in the bowl, and Rose would mix. But when Rose started mixing, the Doctor let his thoughts drift. 

The Doctor was thinking about him and Rose, the kitchen, and various other places on the TARDIS. He was a Time Lord, after all. He had a _vivid_ imagination. It was somewhere in his scenario of the library when he faintly heard Rose calling his name. Well, that fit right in with his daydream, so, thinking he was still in it he replied, "Oh yes, _Rose_." He heard his name being called again, only this time it sounded a bit like a question. He didn't pay that much attention though, and responded similarly to the last time. He was promptly pulled out of these lovely thoughts by water in his face. _Well, that was a cold shower. _There goes step four.

He shook his head, and met Rose's questioning stare. "What the hell were you thinking about back there?"

How was he supposed to reply to that? "Right, um, you see I sorta, well," he paused for a moment, "Is that the timer?" Thank Rassilon for that. He really was saved by the bell.

"They're done!" Rose rushed to the oven to take out her creation. She was absolutely giddy at the sight of her perfectly-cooked treats.

The next few minutes were spent in silence as Rose frosted the cupcakes. The Doctor's mind slipped once again, although this time to thoughts of the article from the library. _Could I…could I actually be in love with her? I mean yeah, she's amazing and I'm extremely attracted to her, but love? I don't do that sort of thing. I'm a Time Lord. And Rose is, well, __Rose__. She's human, but she's kind and clever and so very brave. Rose is my everything_. And in that moment, he knew. Step five.

_Well, I don't normally have a plan, so why should now be any different_? The Doctor walked around the counter to where Rose was icing a cupcake. He took the icing bag out of her hands, ignoring her protests, and put his hands on her waist. And he kissed her for all he was worth, and for all that she made him feel. It was fireworks and hope and love, and for once, time stood still.

The Doctor pulled away for just a moment to whisper in her ear.

"Rose Tyler, I think I'm in love with you."

**A/N: Thank you so very much for reading, and pretty pretty please review! You know you wanna!**

**If you have any prompts, please feel free to send em up.**

**Until next time!**


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